Herb library · Herb · Artemisia absinthium
Wormwood
An intensely bitter, silver-gray herb, a flavoring of the liquor absinthe, used in Europe for poor appetite and indigestion. Two small trials in Crohn's disease reported benefit; its essential oil, rich in thujone, is a convulsant poison.
Serious warning
Wormwood essential oil is a convulsant poison because of its thujone content. The EMA describes a man who drank 10 ml of the oil and had seizures and then heart failure, and warns that overdoses of alcoholic preparations or the oil can cause convulsions, unconsciousness and death.
Traditional use
A long-standing European bitter: German and Polish herbal teas and tablets of the dried herb have been sold since at least the 1970s and 1980s for loss of appetite and mild indigestion, which the European Medicines Agency accepts as traditional use. It has also been used against intestinal worms, and it gives absinthe its name and much of its flavor.
Traditional energetics
Galenic (hot or cold, dry or moist)
Hot and dry. Culpeper's Complete Herbal (1814), p. 229 (opens in a new tab)
What studies show
- Limited
Crohn's disease: in two small randomized trials (40 and 20 patients), wormwood powder added to standard care was followed by more remissions than placebo, and in one, fewer flare-ups as steroids were tapered. The EMA notes only a subgroup responded in the first trial.
- Insufficient
Poor appetite and indigestion: the EMA says clinical data supporting these uses are lacking; it accepts them on the basis of long use, not trials.
- Insufficient
Worms and other parasites: the EMA found no published studies in people.
Be careful of
Cautions
- ConditionDo not use wormwood with a blocked bile duct, inflamed bile ducts or liver disease (EMA). People with gallstones or other biliary problems should see a doctor first.
- PregnancyNot recommended in pregnancy or breastfeeding because of thujone's effects on the uterus; safety has not been established.
- ConditionNot recommended for anyone under 18. After taking wormwood preparations, do not drive or use machines: high thujone doses impaired attention in a volunteer study.
- InteractionThujone acts on the brain's GABA receptors, so wormwood might affect medicines that act on them; no such interactions have been reported.
- AllergyAllergic reactions have been reported, including a sore, burning mouth after a product containing wormwood and other daisy-family herbs, and a skin burn from a cosmetic containing it.
- AmountLarge doses can cause vomiting, severe diarrhea, urine retention and dizziness. If symptoms last longer than 2 weeks, see a doctor.
- Ask a clinicianTalk with a clinician or pharmacist before using this if you take prescription medicines, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or are giving it to a child.
From the old books
What herbals and dispensaries of the past printed. History, in their words.
“In Germany it is employed as a substitute for hops in the making of Wermuth beer, and used by the French in preparing the liquor absinthé, an alcoholic cordial containing the oil of wormwood and other aromatics, as melissa, anise, marjoram and angelica, in the form either of oils or extracts.”
In scripture
Where the Bible names this plant, and which plant scholars think is meant.
but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.
A wormwood, one of the bitter Artemisia plants, always named as an image of bitterness. Tristram (1898) lists several species that grow in the Holy Land, such as Artemisia judaica; the verses do not say which, and the common wormwood on this page, A. absinthium, is only one candidate. H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (1898), p. 493 (opens in a new tab)
He has filled me with bitterness. He has stuffed me with wormwood.
A bitter Artemisia; Tristram (1898) names several that grow in the Holy Land, of which the common wormwood on this page is only one candidate. H. B. Tristram, The Natural History of the Bible (1898), p. 493 (opens in a new tab)
Sources
- Assessment report on Artemisia absinthium L., herba (EMA/HMPC) (opens in a new tab) · EMA · read September 25, 2026
- Wormwood herb (Absinthii herba) – herbal medicinal product (opens in a new tab) · EMA · read September 25, 2026
Reviewed September 25, 2026.